By John Letzing
ZURICH--A Swiss court has blocked Credit Suisse Group AG
(CSGN.VX) from sending data about an employee to U.S. authorities
seeking to track down Americans suspected of using accounts in
Alpine nation to evade taxes.
The decision by a civil court in Geneva applies to one employee
at Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-largest bank, which has long
been cooperating with a U.S. Department of Justice tax evasion
probe.
The decision isn't expected to affect Credit Suisse's overall
ability to continue cooperating with U.S. authorities, who have
applied mounting pressure on the country's longstanding bank
secrecy laws.
Douglas Hornung, an attorney representing the unnamed Credit
Suisse employee, said he won an interim ruling in January blocking
Credit Suisse from transferring the data. That ruling was confirmed
by the civil court in Geneva on Friday, Mr. Hornung said.
A spokesman for Credit Suisse declined to comment.
The ruling comes as U.S. pressure on Swiss banks to disclose
their past dealings with Americans has stirred widespread concern
in Switzerland about potential legal hazards to be faced by bank
employees here.
Credit Suisse is one of roughly a dozen Swiss banks that have
been actively cooperating with U.S. authorities. Other banks in the
group include Julius Baer Group AG (BAER.VX).
The Swiss Parliament recently rejected a proposed plan for a
larger number of the country's roughly 300 banks to start providing
information about their dealings with U.S. clients--including
details about bank personnel who may have aided those clients--to
the DOJ.
The proposed plan was designed as a way to spare Swiss banks
from potential indictments for aiding American tax evaders, and to
bring the ongoing dispute to a close.
Switzerland's largest bank, UBS AG (UBSN.VX), reached a deferred
prosecution agreement with the DOJ in 2009. UBS admitted to helping
Americans evade taxes and paid a $780 million fine.
Wegelin & Co, Switzerland's oldest bank, was indicted in the
U.S. and pleaded guilty earlier this year to helping Americans
evade taxes. Wegelin is now defunct.
Write to John Letzing at john.letzing@wsj.com
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